US plastics manufacturer Trinseo (Berwyn, Pennsylvania; www.trinseo.com) said it has launched a recycled polystyrene material specifically designed for direct food-contact applications.

According to the company, the material was brought to the European market in February 2025. Direct food-contact applications suitable for the rPS include dairy containers, hot and cold drinks cups, food trays, and refrigerator parts, Trinseo said.

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The company went on to say that the rPS material is compliant with EU regulation 2022/1616 relating to the use of recycled plastics that come into direct contact with food. The recyclate is produced using the companys proprietary transparent dissolution technology, it added.

Trinseo, along with Germanys Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV, Freising; www.ivv.fraunhofer.de), prepared a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Novel Technology Dossier that it applied in a challenge test to validate the decontamination efficiency of its technology. According to the plastics manufacturer, in the test, contaminants were added to the feedstock and the final product was analysed.

Trinseo produces the rPS in Germany at its Schkopau facility. The grade contains 30% recycled materials, with the feedstock derived from selected sources of pre- and post-consumer polystyrene, provided by the companys Heathland recycling operations in Utrecht, Netherlands, the firm said.